Earlier this week, the CHOICE research group ventured out of Groningen to Amsterdam, Utrecht and The Hague as part of the IRSP-CHOICE research project. During the rather intense three day fieldtrip, held Wednesday morning through Friday afternoon, the research team was based in Amsterdam city centre. However, highlights certainly also included travelling to the Rutger WPF office in Utrecht and visiting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague. As such, the purpose of the trip was predominately to meet and carry out qualitative interviews with important CHOICE partners and other important Sexual- and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) stakeholders active/based in the Netherlands. The research team members were all excited for the excellent opportunity to network and eagerly updated LinkedIn profiles and brushed up on interview skills in preparation for the fieldtrip.

While the fieldtrip certainly featured accommodation mishaps and some misunderstandings there was also a whole lot of sunshine, heaps of important researching and in-depth critical discussions, interesting encounters, productive meetings and, not to forget, lots of laughs. Overall, I feel the research team grew in our formal and informal knowledge and understanding of key processes pertaining to SRHR and organizational structure(s) of international advocacy work – all pieces of knowledge very much key to the progression of the IRSP-CHOICE research project in the coming weeks and months. Working together on the project so intensively for a lengthier period of time was very productive in propelling the project onwards and forward following lengthy conversations and collective brainstorming sessions. Throughout the fieldtrip, we also learnt the value of good communication and efficient team work. Splitting into pairs of two (and three, in the case of the Ministry) and dividing and delegating responsibility for individual interviews and contacts were central to effectively and efficiently managing an otherwise rather intense program. This made team work and, by extension, team building very important throughout the fieldtrip. At this point in time, the research project is progressing well and we are now starting to get a better idea of what the final product may look like. In the coming weeks, we will be working hard at compiling the interview data into a more comprehensive form and distilling the data into a first draft of the research itself. In the near future, we will also be busy with furthering our data collection process as we continue to carry out interviews with CHOICE staff and the CHOICE Youth Advocates (so-called CHOICErs). We have recently also begun reaching out to important international CHOICE partners and other SRHR stakeholders such as the International Planned Parenthood Federation and the UNFPA with hopes of scheduling in Skype interviews in the coming two weeks. In sum, a busy but exciting time for the research project and the IRSP-CHOICE research team.